Ashkelon: The skies were illuminated with rocket trajectories as a NDTV crew made their way to Ashkelon, a coastal city few kilometres from Gaza, the blockaded strip where Israel is fighting an all-out war against Palestinian groups.
Several roads are barricaded and led to traffic jams, the journalists saw, giving a real time account of the situation in Israel.
A rocket exploded near their hotel before they could check in late at night as sirens forced them to take shelter in the basement.
The road to Ashkelon was empty and silent, rather unusual from how the city once beamed with civilians on the streets.
The driver had clear instructions - the car would be stopped if the air raid siren goes off and the passengers must get out on the road and lie down.
They had just reached the hotel and had their luggage taken out that the sirens blared - which meant just one thing - leave everything and find a shelter. The luggage remained on the road as the crew ran to the basement.
Gaza is barely 10-12 km from here and Israel's retaliatory attacks are visible from this city. Rockets and the humming of fighter jets could be heard in the background as they spoke.
Live visuals showed rockets piercing the skies. The roaring sounds of missiles continued overnight.
Israel has unleashed a fierce counterattack to Hamas's rocket attacks, determined to "change the face of reality" in Gaza.
Over 1,100 civilians and soldiers have been killed on both sides in the war that began Saturday morning following a barrage of rocket attacks from Gaza. This includes over 700 in Israel.
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